Distributor Seal, WTF Am I Doing Wrong?...

I agree with the other guys about the distributor not going fully 'home'.If that's not the problem,what about this? Just shooting in the dark here,terd,but when you did the PCV conversion,did you fit a CLEAN breather to the oil fill tube.Just thinking possibly too much pressure in the crankcase,forcing oil through gasket?
Could there be a hairline crack on the intake at the distributor mounting boss?
Hope you get it sorted,good luck.

 

If you have to seal up with some kind of silicon, I'll suggest using a Permatex product called The Right Stuff. We use it to seal big truck diffs into axle housings, has stopped oil leak comebacks. Like anything else, the sealing surface must be clean to seal properly.

 

That's interesting. Any solution?

Thanks for checking.

That's Delton's cousin, Early.

I forgot to check the distributor without the gasket. Oops. But I will, I've got to pull it again anyway.

It could be the distributor not going fully home. I forgot to check it without the gasket to see. Duh. The oil fill tube has a clean brand new breather. There could be a crack on the mounting hole, but I can't see it.

Thanks for the tip. Wouldn't turning the distributor to set timing ruin a silicone seal?



I got a new hold down today. I'm going to pull the distributor again and check the fit without the gasket and reinstall with the new hold down and see what happens. I've got it down to about 20 minutes now from taking off the air cleaner to timing set and running right, lol. What colorado51 said about some old intakes leaking there is interesting. Anybody else ever heard this and know a fix?

Thanks again everybody.

 

Your right about turning the dizzy after it sets up. The stuff sets up in about 2 hours. We're accustomed to filling the gear units before the goop has time to completely dry, no leaks.
If the intake is leaking like colorado51 says, this might be the way to fix it. It's worth a shot.

 

If the new hold down doesn't fix it, I'll try this before I pull the intake to check for anything wrong there. I had tried silicone the first time, but I started it up before it set up (I think) and turned the distibutor after it had set up to set the timing. If it comes to it, I'll use the stuff you talked about and get the timing set right away and let it set up overnight and see what happens. Thanks.

 

make sure the hold-down is just a flat style, not the ones with "wings", for lack of a better term. sometimes they will bottom out against the manifold without actually holding down the dizzy. ill try and find you some pics laterr

 

I usually use a hammer and......................awe nevermind.........but if I was a betting man, I'd go with what chicken said.

 

are you sure you didn't hit the sender with the intake going on or coming off get back there and give it a wiggle

 

Just a thought. I've had HEI distrubutors not set all the way down on early manifolds with high intake runners at th rear of the manifold. The larger size of the HEI dist housing hits the manifold runners, requiring some relief work on both the dist and the manifold. Good luck!

 

I didn't know they even used gaskets............................

 

The old hold down was curved. It was adjustable, but it was like it didn't have enough adjustment. I relieved the hole a bit to get it closer, but still not exactly enough I don't think. The new one I got today has little "feet" on the distributor side. I'll put it on tomorrow along with checking the clearance without a gasket.

It doesn't wiggle and is tight.

Thanks. Although the Torker has high runners, it's not contacting the distributor.

Lol. I now know more than I ever thought I would about HEI. I can have it out and back in and timed in less than 20 minutes. And going to get another gasket is somewhat of a joke now at the parts place.

 

double the gaskets.

 

Tried that. It still leaks.

 

I mounted the dizzy without a gasket and it seems to go all the way down and sit flat. No obvious problems here. The double gasket was curved when I took it off leading me to believe it's probably the hold down. We'll see after I put it back together AGAIN.

 

Me again. What do you mean when you say the gasket is curved? The reason I originally suggested you look at the gasket after having been installed, is so you can determine where or even if there is an issue with the sealing surfaces. Once you have an idea as to why it's leaking, then you can stop chasing your tail and figure out a game plan as to how to properly remedy the problem.

 

Also, how much oil is leaking out? Is oil actually running past the distributor and onto the manifold, or does the gasket just look wet. Is there any chance you might have overlooked something like a porous distributor housing, a Nylon oil pressure line with a pinhole in it or maybe the distributor clamp hole has been drilled all the way through and is leaking oil past the threads? The intake bolts themselves go into oil and if you don't use sealant on the threads, they can leak oil as well.

 

OK, stupid thought here, but I "know a guy" that had this problem and it was a stupid oversight. Is the hold down sitting ON TOP of the lip of the dizzy, or around it? When I was installing mine, the hold down went around the lip and I didn't even notice. When I figured it all out, the whole problem was that the hold down had to go ON TOP of the lip, at quite an angle, to hold the dizzy down properly. Like I said, stupid, but worth a look.....

 

Ask yourself the following.

"Am I double sure it's actually the distributor leaking"

Once you've answered that, ask yourself

"Am I triple sure it's actually the distributor leaking"

Based on the results of the first two questions, ask yourself the following

"Am I quadruple sure it's actually the distributor leaking"

Seriously, distributors are not difficult things to seal up. Look closer. Perform some "probing"

 

Your question brings up another stupid question I have. How tight should the hold down bolt be? Maybe I am over tightening it? Wouldn't that cause the side closest to the hold down to have more force applied than the opposite side (maybe causing the gasket to be curved)?

I've got it together finger tight and am awaiting your responses as to how tight to go. I can't get a torque wrench in there, so please speak in generalities.

And thanks again everybody for sticking with me through this.

A lot is leaking out. Enough to cause a saucer sized puddle when idling after a couple of minutes. That's after driving it for a couple of miles. When it first goes back together, at idle there are no leaks. It starts after driving, then leaks whenever the engine is running. the gasket looks wet and oil is running off onto the manifold. The pcv is close, but totally dry. Same story with the intake bolts.

Tell your "friend" thanks but this isn't the problem. But that's an easy thing to overlook. Thanks.

I am quintuply sure it's the distributor leaking. See my words above in this post to see if I just may be the most retarded person alive for overtightening the hold down. That's still a theory, but it's about the only other thing I can think of.

 

A torque wrench on a DIST HOLD DOWN ??? WTF !! Dude you need to get somebody to help you that knows what they are doing !!! >>>>.

 

Why not just tell how ****ing tight it should be. You seem to know but not want to help. Go **** yourself.


***EDITED TO ADD***
I torque everything that has a torque value given. Even if it's 4 ft.lbs.. I'm sure there's a good reason for torque values. I've never messed with a distributor before this. I've never had to. So what? Does that make me somekind of innernetz nerd to be made fun of? Go **** yourself again.

 

You have 3 pages of **** trying to fix a dist leak !!! And it's quite clear you don't know what the **** you are doing. All of these guys have made suggestions and you keep beating a dead horse !!! So you can go **** YOURSELF !!!! >>>>.

 

Yeah, so what. How did you learn? By magic? Did Merlin come down and teach you how to do engine work? Or maybe Santee Claus? I'll just get your mom to do it for me. GFY. FOAD. Etc.

 

Tight enough so that you can no longer grab the distributor cap and turn it by hand. Oil leaks can be a pain, don't give up. At least it isn't the ****** pan.

 

I think you have another problem that is causing everything to blow out the distributor hole. I'm thinking you have some crazy crankcase pressure that is finding its way out. Are you SURE you have the pcv in right? Did your old valve covers have breathers, new ones don't, something like that? I mean, REALLY, I have never seen a distributor leak like you say it is. There is something else going on here.

As far as torque goes,,, Tighten it like you would the valve cover bolts w/ that cork gasket in there, tight, but it doesn't hold the damn world together, all you need it to do is keep the distributor from rotating.

 

Thanks for the answer. I was for sure over tightening the hold down bolt. Knowig that, I'm now sure that's the cause of the leak. Thanks everybody for sticking through this with me even though I'm not and will never be quite as cool as the know-it-all smart *** but not willing to help jack*** posting just above you. Maybe my idiocy will save someone else from future embarr***ment.

 

Well I can tell you one thing I sure as hell didn't learn by telling people right out to go **** themselves !! Have a nice day FUJIMO >>>>.

 

It's the same setup, just in different places. The breather used to be on one valve cover and the pcv on the other. Now the breather is at the fron of the intake and the pcv is on the rear. I was seriously cranking down. I was trying to hold the world together with the hold down bolt. Now I know. And knowing is half the battle. Yo joe and etc..

 

If I had to guess, I would imagine you learned by asking some stupid questions to those smarter than you. Sound familiar? Notice I didn't tell anybody else to go **** themselves. I wonder why? Examine the content of your post and compare it to the rest and you'll find the answer as sure as the sun will come up tomorrow. I don't need a bunch of smart*** jibber jabber further exasparating an already frustrating situation.The innernetz is a big place, I'm sure there's other people who you can make fun of. I ain't that guy. So please, pretty please, with sugar on top, go **** yourself.

 

Actually distributor hold downs do need to be fairly tight, otherwise the dist will turn when at high RPM. Seen it happen many times. In fact many race manifolds have the provision for TWO hold downs to keep from spinning!
I really think you have a problem that is creating excessive crank case pressure. You say the PCV is in the rear of the manifold, care to explain or show a picture?

And drop the personal attacks, be the bigger man and let it go, don't care if you didn't start it. Otherwise you will probably alienate those who are trying to help.